Unexpected Visitor
by Valamon
Summary: It was a typical weekend morning, until an unexpected visitor drops in!
1. Chapter 1

It was 10:00 Saturday morning. Lauren was sitting in the living room in one of the dark green armchairs with her silver notebook laptop on her lap as she watched television. Her sister, Alena, was in her room watching television.

Suddenly the TV fizzed out and Lauren's computer screen went blank.

"Hey! Stupid computer." Lauren grumbled, annoyed. She closed the computer lid and set it on the small wooden table in-between the chairs. Then she turned off the TV

"Lauren, something's wrong with the TV!" Alena called from her room.

"I know. Something's wrong with the one in here too. And the microwave?" Lauren scratched her head in puzzlement. "What's going on here?" She walked down the hallway towards her sister's room.

Alena was jabbing the channel button on her small silver TV that was on the small wooden table beside the foot of her bed, grumbling under her breath as the screen stayed fizzy.

"Don't break the TV!"

"I'm not!"

Lauren sat on the end of Alena's bed and looked around the cluttered room. "Sis, yer really going to have to clean this room before Mom gets home."

"I know, I know!" Alena snapped irritably.

Lauren frowned at her sister's tone but said nothing. She watched Alena as she continued flipping through the channels.

Suddenly the TV channels returned.

"Yes! Now I can watch my comedy channel!"

"Good fer you. I'm gonna go see if my computer's working. Now I gotta type all my stuff all over again!"

"Awww, poor Sissy." Alena said with a small giggle.

Lauren stood up, planting her fists on her hips. "Don't make me get you!"

Alena giggled louder, pulling away as Lauren walked around the side of the bed towards her sister. "No!"

Lauren chuckled. "Nah. Maybe later." She turned and walked out of the room.

Alena turned her attention back to the TV.

Lauren was walking down the hallway, grumbling to herself under her breath. She stopped outside her bedroom doorway when she saw her full-grown, lanky dark orange and white striped cat, Bart, stretched out on her bed, fast asleep. "Aww, you look so cute!" she said quietly with a small smile.

Lauren walked into the room and up to the bed. She bent down and planted a small kiss on the cat's head, right between the ears.

Bart came awake with a start. He looked up at Lauren through half-closed light green eyes, pupils slitted slightly. He blinked several times.

"Sorry, Bart." Lauren said, patting and stroking her cat's head.

Bart stood up and stretched, then jumped down from the bed.

Lauren followed him out of the room and down the rest of the short hallway to the living room.

Beelzemon was rather startled to find that he wasn't in his Tamers' house, but some else's living room. _Where the hell am I?_ he thought as he looked around. _This definitely ain't Ai and Mako's._

The room he was in was rather large and conjoined with the kitchen, which was cut off from the most of the living room by a counter, and a small hallway, which was right next to the front door. It had dark blue carpet and was furnished with two dark green armchairs against the wall next to the door, a wooden table in-between them with a lamp and silver laptop on it, a green couch opposite the chairs covered in a multi-colored afghan with two windows above it, a large wooden entertainment system in the corner behind/beside him. It had a TV in the large square area, the large left side of the shelves contained movies while the right side had books and unicorn knick-knacks.

The kitchen, from what he could see from where he was standing, had a white linoleum floor and large glass windows on the right side, a sink, stove, and cabinets were on the left side. A refrigerator was beside the end of the counter. Beside the large windows was a white table with four chairs on a dark blue-checkered piece of carpet. Behind the table was a Baker's Rack with a microwave on the large shelf, a box full of pots and pans on the bottom wire rack, and several empty jars were set on the wire shelf above the microwave.

The kitchen led to another small hallway that had only two openings, one at the end blocked by a wooden doorway, and the other was open.

Suddenly the Digimon's keen hearing caught the sound of laughter and footsteps. He looked at the hallway near the front door, rather curious. His eyes widened slightly as a girl and an orange cat appeared.

The girl was short, around 4 ft. 9 in. and had wavy dishwater brown hair with blonde highlights that reached her shoulders. She wore an over-sized orange shirt with "Bass Pro Shop" etched on the front that went to her knees and made her look a little bigger than she really was. Her green-brown eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock when she saw the Digimon.

"N-Nena...c'mere. Tell me I'm seeing things." Lauren said over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off Beelzemon.

"Of course you're seeing things!" Alena said irritably. "There's things in the living room!"

"I don't think he's one of them!"

"What?" Alena asked, getting up from the bed and walking down the hallway. "You mean Bart?"

Lauren slowly shook her head.

"Then what're you...?" Alena's voice trailed off as she came up beside her older sister.

Beelzemon blinked in surprise when he saw Alena, who was a little taller, 5'2'', and skinnier than her older sister. She had shoulder-length curly dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wore bell-bottoms and a brown t-shirt.

Lauren leaned closer to her sister. "Nena, i-is it just me or it that Beelzemon?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Cool!" Lauren muttered.

Both girls jumped when Beelzemon spoke.

"Who're you?! Where the heck am I?!" he demanded in his gruff voice.

Lauren and Alena exchanged glances before looking at him and shrugging.

Beelzemon rolled his eyes. "Yer as bad as my Tamers!"

Lauren couldn't suppress an embarrassed grin.

Beelzemon folded his arms across his chest, glaring at the sisters. "You didn't answer my questions!"

"Ummm...well, I'm Lauren and this is my sister Alena," Lauren pointed to both in turn as she spoke. "And yer in our trailer."

"Where exactly?!"

"Madison, Indiana."

"Indiana?" Beelzemon said slowly in disbelief. His arms dropped to his sides and his eyes went wide, jaw dropping slightly as it sunk in. "What?!"

"Sorry, Beelzemon. Yer not in Japan anymore. You're not even in the same reality."

Beelzemon's face blanked, completely confused. "Huh?"

"You're a minor character in a TV series!" Alena said.

"No! No no no no! Th-this can't be!" Beelzemon shook his head. "It's not fair!"

"Aww, Poor Impy." Alena said in a sweet, mocking tone.

Beelzemon glared at her.

"Nena, I don't think you should be making fun of him. He's dangerous, remember?"

"He's just a cartoon. He can't hurt us."

Beelzemon's eyes lit up with rage and he bared his fangs in a snarl. "Just a cartoon?!" he growled.

"I'm sorry, an _anime_ cartoon!"

"Nena!" Lauren hissed warningly.

Beelzemon drew his gun from the boot holster and pointed it at Alena.

She eyed the gun worriedly. "A-as I was saying...he can't hurt us," she said in a wavering voice, then added under her breath, "Hopefully."

The Mega level viral sneered, having heard what she had said. "Oh really? Let's just see what you have to say after I blow a hole in yer skull!"

"Er, that would be kinda hard," Alena tapped the side of her head. "I'm really hard-headed."

Beelzemon gave her a look of disdain, smacking his forehead and shaking his head.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Lauren hurried to the kitchen. She looked around, trying to find something suitable for her purpose. Suddenly she spotted a cast-iron skillet on the stove. "Ah-hah!" She picked it up and hurried back to the living room.

Beelzemon looked down at her as she came towards him. "What're you gonna do wid that?"

Lauren swung the skillet at him, hard

_WHAM!_

"Owww!" Beelzemon howled in pain, clutching his left hip with his free hand. He screwed his eyes shut and chewed on his bottom lip until it bled.

Alena busted up laughing. "And you thought you were so tough! One hit from a little skillet and you break down! Ha!"

Beelzemon glared at Alena, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. "Yer so dead!"

Alena stopped laughing. She pointed at her sister. "But she's the one who hit you!"

Beelzemon looked at Lauren. "You stupid human!" he yelled, then winced from the pain shooting through his hip. "I think you broke my hip," he said softly with pain in his voice.

"Well, you had a gun pointed at my sister."

With that said Beelzemon pulled out his other gun and pointed them at the girls.

Their mom, Beth, walked in suddenly. Beth was small a small person, only 4'11''. She had a more yellow-ish complexion; hair colored light brown, and light blue eyes. She wore an oversized dark red shirt with a blue name tag near the collar and black jeans with black tennis shoes. She also wore glasses "Girls, I'm-What're you doing standing in the doorway?"

"Mom!" the girls cried happily, turning towards their mother.

Beth looked from her children to Beelzemon. "What the? Get the hell away from my kids! Lauren, gimme that skillet! He's going down!"

Lauren obediently handed over the skillet, exchanging it for the box of cigarettes and soda her mother was carrying.

"Oh, not again!" Beelzemon groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Drop the guns or I'll drop you!" Beth yelled, stepping in front of Lauren and Alena.

Beelzemon could tell she wasn't kidding by her furious expression. "Oh, crap."

"Hah! You chose the wrong family to mess with, buddy!" Alena giggled.

"Beelzemon," Lauren said quietly. "I'd advise you to put away the guns. Our mom goes a little berserk when we're in danger and will kill you by _any_ means necessary. Remember how hard I hit you?"

Beelzemon winced from the throbbing pain still lingering in his hip. "Yeah…."

"Well, she'll hit you a lot harder and, since it's a cast-iron skillet, she can hit you as many times as she wants."

"I'm gonna tell you one more time, drop the guns!" Beth warned, taking a step towards the Mega.

Beelzemon quickly put his guns up. "Alright, alright! They're put up! Just don't hit me!"

Beth eyed the viral suspiciously for a moment before holding the skillet out to Lauren. "Go put that up."

"Yes, Mom." Lauren hurried to do as she was told.

Alena went back to her room to continue watching TV.

Beth continued to watch the viral, arms folded across her chest.

Lauren walked in to stand beside her mother, returning her things. "I'm surprised I didn't break his hip when I hit him."

"You hit him? Huh, no wonder he was afraid!"

Beelzemon rubbed his injured hip. "You hit hard."

"Sorry. You were threatening my sister. What else you expect me to do?"

"Sorry." Beelzemon mumbled, averting his gaze.

"It's OK. My sis gets on everybody's nerves."

"I do not!"

Lauren and Beth burst out laughing.

"Yes you do!" Lauren said to her sister as she looked down the hall at her.

Alena stuck her tongue out.

Lauren giggled and shook her head.

"Alright, that's enough," Beth turned to Beelzemon. "So why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be a cartoon character?"

Beelzemon shrugged. "I dunno. One minute I'm on my way home and the next…I'm here getting' made fun of and whacked with a skillet. And I thought my day couldn't have got any worse!"

"Karma. Comes around and bites ya in the butt or as in your case, hits you in the hip." Lauren said solemnly.

"Ya got that right! All I wanted to do was go home but no! I end up here instead with no clue of how to get back!"

Lauren smiled sympathetically. "Poor Beelzemon."

Beelzemon tilted his head to one side questionably. "How'd ya know my name? I don't remember tellin' ya."

"It's like Nena said, you're a character in a TV series, sorry to say."

"Huh? That don't make a lick of sense."

Lauren shrugged. "Life doesn't always make sense but we live it anyway," She walked over to her computer and picked it up. "Gimme a sec and I'll show you what I mean." she said as she sat down in the chair and opened the lid.

Curious, Beelzemon walked up in front of the chair Lauren was sitting in. "What're ya doin'?"

Lauren didn't answer. After a few moments, she turned the computer around and pointed to one of the four pictures that made up her wallpaper.

Beelzemon's eyes widened when he saw that they were all screenshots of himself, except one. "Wha da freak?"

"Those are screenshots of you from the TV series, except this one, someone drew it. Do you know how many people like you? Some too much, some not at all. There's all kinds of stuff about ya! Stories, pictures, you name it."

"Really? Never woulda thought…wow."

"Yeah. Here, lemme show you some other stuff I have…."

While those two were busy, Beth went to her room.

Lauren turned on the TV, changed the channel, and set the remote on the table without looking up.

"So, Lauren…she's your sis, right?" Beelzemon asked, looking down the hall at the Lauren's sister, who was lying on her bed watching TV.

"Yeah. She's a pain sometimes."

"How well do you guys get along?"

"We are nothing like your Tamers, I assure you. The longest we fight is like, two minutes or less. Mom taught us to get along and makes sure to enforce it."

"Oh. That's a relief. How old are you two?"

"I'm fourteen and she's twelve."

"She is? But she's taller than you…."

"So? She takes after our dad. He's taller than Mom. She used to think she was all that, just 'cause she grew like, four inches. Mom sorted her out though."

"It must suck being so small." Beelzemon said with a small grin.

Lauren frowned. "And yer one to talk! As Impmon yer smaller than your Tamers!"

Beelzemon's grin faded and a light blush crept to his pale cheeks as he looked away. "Er, yeah…hehe…."

"Exactly. I get made fun of at school. Called names, get picked on 'cause I'm the shortest kid in the eight grade," Lauren folded her arms across her chest and blew hard through her nose. "Stupid stuck up…grrrr!" she grumbled under her breath.

Beelzemon chuckled. "Yeah, I know how that feels. I used to get made fun of all the time 'cause I was short."

"And a loud-mouth." Lauren added with a suppressed giggle.

Beelzemon frowned. "That's not the point," he said dryly.

Lauren shrugged. "True, though."

"Still not the point."

"Well, anyway, to change the subject. Do you like music?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Beelzemon said with a small shrug. "Why?"

"Just wondering. I have a large number of songs on my computer. From hard rock to techno. Except for that rap crap most kids are listening to nowadays. It's quite vulgar and has a terrible beat," Lauren shook her head with distaste. "And don't get me started on the kids that listen to it!"

Beelzemon grinned. "You have quite an open mind, doncha?"

Lauren grinned lopsidedly. "Yeah. But I know when to keep my mouth shut so I don't get into any trouble."

Beelzemon nodded, folding his arms. "Smart idea, kid. Can't remember how many times my mouth's got me inta trouble."

"Especially with Indramon." Lauren said quietly.

Beelzemon shuddered visibly. "Yeah…I regret that so much." He exhaled a low sigh and rubbed his sore hip distractedly.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright. You have no idea what I went through."

"I do a little. I saw the episode. I felt really sorry for you."

Beelzemon turned away. "Hmph, I don't need anybody feelin' sorry fer me."

Lauren looked back at her computer screen, blinking back tears.

Suddenly Bart jumped up onto her lap.

"Hi, Bart. What're you doing?"

Bart meowed in his squeaky voice, walking over to the arm of the chair closest to the door.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "You want out, right?"

As if in answer, Bart jumped down and walked to the door.

Lauren got up, setting her computer on the floor and went to open the door. After letting out the cat, she returned to her seat, setting the laptop back on her lap. She looked up at Beelzemon. "You can sit down, if you want."

Beelzemon sat down in the other chair, resting his arm on the chair so that he could put his cheek on his knuckles. He stared at the TV screen.

Beelzemon looked at Lauren out of the corner of his eye when he heard the fast clicking of keys. "What're you doin'?"

"Huh?" Lauren looked up at him. She blushed lightly. "Oh, um…j-just working on some stories…."

"Stories? Can I see?"

"No! I-I mean…oh fudge." She looked backed at her computer, now blushing furiously.

Beelzemon blinked in surprise. "So…that means I can't read 'em? I've been learnin' how to read with the kids. I'm actually quite good now."

"But you've been learning Japanese. This is English."

"Well, actually I've been learnin' a bit of both," Beelzemon said proudly. "It's harder than Japanese, but I'm getting it."

"Well, that's good. English is one of the hardest languages to learn, because of all the weird rules and pronunciations."

"Yeah, no kiddin'."

"If you want, I could help you with your English. I can bring my English book home from school Monday."

"Sounds like fun." Beelzemon said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Lauren said quietly, sounding a bit hurt. "Just tryin' ta be helpful."

Beelzemon smiled apologetically. "I know. I'm just not a big study person, that's all. Besides, I hope not ta be here Monday. I promised Ai and Mako I'd be home taday for Mako's birthday."

"Oh. But I thought you lived with them."

"Yeah. But you try livin' with a coupla kids who like to play pranks on each other-"

"Like Ai gluing Mako to the floor?" Lauren interjected.

"Exactly! They also still fight over just about everything, just not as heated, and they still use me as their play toy! I need peace fer a bit so either I leave for a few days for the Digital World or stay in town for a few hours."

"I see. You have to understand though that they're only five and six. Kids at that age do lots of silly things because they're learning they can do them. They don't understand they're bothering you, they're just learning that."

"You know a lot for fourteen."

Lauren smiled meekly. "Yeah, I guess so. Just not as much as some others would. Experience gives you lots of common sense, too. I had to mature faster when I was younger because my mom worked and I had to watch after Sis 'cause there was no one else."

"Oh."

"Yeah I-Amara! Bad girl, get down!"

Beelzemon looked up to see a grey striped kitten walking on the cluttered counter, batting at the Wander Jew.

"Git down, Mara! Now!"

Amara looked up at Lauren, blinking several times. She walked to the edge near the chair and jumped on the arm. Then she jumped onto the back and lay down, stretching herself out into a comfortable position.

"Silly little monster! She doesn't understand she's in trouble and she doesn't like to listen either. Sucha pain in the butt. But she's a cutie." Lauren reached up and stroked Amara's side.

The kitten began to purr loudly.

"She's sure loud."

Lauren chuckled. "You can hear her in here from Alena's room!"

"That sure is loud, fer a kitten. So, then who's that?"

Lauren looked in the direction Beelzemon was pointing to see a pure white cat with a calico tail, a brown smudge on her head near her left ear, and jade greens cautiously walking in from the kitchen area. "That's Jade. She's mom cat and she's really skittish, so be quiet and no sudden movements."

"Kay."

"Jade," Lauren called softly. "Here girl. Jade."

Jade walked up to the chair and jumped onto Lauren's lap.

"Hi, pretty girl." Lauren said as she slowly scratched the cat's chin.

Jade rubbed her cheek against the girl's hand before curling up against her stomach and partially on the computer.

"You got anything ta drink? I'm parched."

"Yeah, there's bottled water in the fridge, help yourself."

"Thanks." Beelzemon said as he stood up. He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Pushing aside a container of leftovers, he pulled out a bottle of water and opened it.

The viral greedily downed half the bottle as he returned to his seat.

"Better?" Lauren asked, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Yup." Beelzemon replied, setting the bottle on the table.

"That's good."

Beelzemon drummed his claws on his leg. After a few minutes, he looked over at Lauren. "So what do you do fer fun around here?"

"Lots of things. What did you have in mind?"

Beelzemon shrugged. "Dunno. Whatcha got ta do?"

"Um. Reading, go out for a walk, board games, and video games."

"Video games? What kinda games?"

"Well…" Lauren started counting on her fingers. "A racing game, Destroy All Humans, Sudeki, Munch's Odyssey, Harry Potter the fourth game, a Castle Wolfenstein, and a few Mom rented. Halo 2, Area 41, and the new Spyro for Sis. Oh and Raze's Hell," She clapped a hand over her mouth; she had not meant to say 'hell'. "Oops."

"Wow, that's a lotta games. What's Raze's Hell?"  
Lauren grinned. "Only the best game to play if you don't like cute pink things and if you just like causin' destruction. But it is rather difficult."

"Could we play?"

"Yeah," Lauren carefully nudged Jade, making her jump off her lap, and set the computer on the floor. "I have to ask Mom first for the Xbox."

Beelzemon watched Lauren as she through the kitchen to the small hallway that led to Beth's room and the laundry.

Lauren knocked lightly on the wooden door with her knuckles.

"Come in!"

Lauren pushed the door open. "Mom, are you using the Xbox?"

Beth looked up from the afghan she was working on. "No, why?"

"Can we use it in the living room?"

"I don't see why not. What're you going to play?"

"Raze's Heck." Lauren replied as she unhooked the Xbox.

Beth smiled. "Why did I even ask? That's probably your favorite game."

"Other than Halo 2, yes." Lauren picked up the Xbox, setting the cords, controller, and game on top, then she walked back into the living room and set it on the floor in front of the entertainment system. Then she plugged the cord into the wall and moved the TV enough to get at the cable cord.

Beelzemon watched, rather amused as Lauren struggled to remove the cable cord from the back of the TV.

"Stupid cord!" Lauren grumbled. "Pain ta get on, pain ta get off."

"Need any help?"

"No, I got it."

Lauren spent several more moments unscrewing the cord until it finally came off. "Hah! Told you I could get it off. Now, to put this on." She put the cable cord for the Xbox onto the TV and inserted the game.

Lauren picked up the controller and sat down on the floor next to Beelzemon.

"So how do ya play?" Beelzemon asked as he watched the main menu come up on the screen.

"It's simple really. I'll show you after I finish this level; it's the last on the game."

"Alright. I wanna watch you, try ta learn a bit about this game."

"Alright."

Beelzemon greatly enjoyed watching the 14-year-old girl fight creatures called Kewlettes that were small and square-headed with squeaky voices that sounded like they swallowed a whole can of helium. There was also a small variety of other such as bears, ducks, and large rabbits. All had different weapons.

The main character, Raze, a strange blue yeti-styled creature who had orange markings on his face, also had a large variety of weapons called breath shots because he ate these special plants that were ammo and shot them back out his mouth. He also had a rolling attack and a swiping attack with the twin blades on his right wrist.

"Hey, Beelzemon? Could you check and see if Bart wants in yet?"

"Sure." Beelzemon stood up and opened the door. He looked down to see Bart crouched patiently by the door.

After letting in the cat, Beelzemon sat beside Lauren on the floor with one leg stretched out and the other arched with his arm draped over it.

"Aw, crap! I died! Stupid critters."

"Ya gotta start over?" Beelzemon asked, slightly sad he didn't get to play yet. The game looked like a lot of fun.

"Well…no. You can play now. Just let me get you started."

Beelzemon grinned. "Cool!"

Lauren handed the controller to the viral after setting up a new game for him. "Alright. Most of the game has audio instructions, but if you need help, just ask."

"Alright."

After playing for two hours and only getting to the third level, the pair stopped to eat a late lunch of ham sandwiches, Doritos, and cans of Coke.

Beth walked in. "Hey, honey. I know you're in the middle of eating but what would you like for dinner?"

Lauren shrugged. "Dunno."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Is that your only answer to that question?"

"Not exactly." Lauren replied, taking a sip of her soda.

"Well then, what do you want?"

"Um…tacos maybe? Nena was tellin' me yesterday she wanted tacos."

"Hm. "Yeah I guess so. I'm going to have to go to the store and pick stuff up. Are coming with...?" Beth's voice trailed off as she looked over at Beelzemon, who was still eating. "Er, never mind."

The Mega looked up at Beth and smirked. "What? Ya don't trust me?" he asked.

Beth glared at him. "Hell no! You tried to kill my kids!"

"'Til I hit him."

Beelzemon nodded. "Exactly. Usually I ain't that mean but that just hurt."

Beth folded her arms. "I still don't trust you."

Beelzemon shrugged. "Oh well. Not many trust me anyways, not even Ai and Mako's parents. But it's not like they can send me away, the kids would have a fit."

"Well, mom you can take Alena so she can carry the heavy bags. 'Cause if you com in laden with bags like last time, yer in big trouble."

Beth smiled. "Yes, dear. I know."

Beelzemon looked slightly puzzled as Beth walked out of the room. He looked at Lauren. "Why would she be in trouble?"

"She has Rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. Arthritis is a disease that makes the body turn on itself. Too much calcium builds up on the joints, causing pain and stiffness. It usually cripples that part of the body after some time."

"Sounds bad."

"Yeah," Lauren stood up with her plate and empty can. "Especially when it's severe," She put both in the sink. As she turned around, her knee popped loudly. "Ow."

Beelzemon's eyes widened in surprise. "Holy crap! What was that?!"

"My knee," Lauren replied. "It's OK. I pop all the time, every joint. Sometimes it hurts, most times it doesn't." As she spoke, she cracked her fingers loudly on both hands.

Beelzemon stood up and put his things in the sink, then turned to Lauren. "Do you know why you do that?"

"Not exactly. Mom says it might be calcium deficiency. Grandpa says it isn't. So I haven't a clue." Lauren looked down at her hand.

Beelzemon watched as it trembled uncontrollably, especially the last two fingers.

"My nervous is wound too tight, as Mom put it," Lauren said, answering Beelzemon's unasked question. "I can't ever stay still, even when I'm completely calm. I sway side-to-side when I stand and my foot or leg shakes when I sit…it's very bothersome."

"Huh, must be," Beelzemon held up one hand and examined it thoroughly. He frowned. "Mine is perfectly still…hmph. That's weird."

Lauren shook her head. "Not really." She walked back to the living room and sat down in the chair.

Beelzemon quickly followed suit, sitting on the floor with his back against the other chair. He picked up the controller. "You were right." he said as he started playing.

"Huh? Right about what?"

"This game! It's so freakin' hard!"

Lauren smiled thinly. She looked in the direction of her mother and sister, who were walking down the hallway towards the front door.

"Alright now. We'll be back in a few. If he gives you any trouble, hit him with the skillet."

Lauren and Alena giggled.

"Hey! That ain't quite fair! I'm still sore from earlier!"

"Awww, poor Beelzemon!" Alena snickered.

Beelzemon glared at her for a moment before doing something unexpected. He stuck his tongue out at her.

The other three looked at each other in surprise before bursting into laughter. The Mega Digimon joined in with a small chuckle. When the laughter subsided, Beth and Alena left for the store.

Lauren returned to typing, pausing occasionally to help Beelzemon and scold him for the use of foul language at the TV.

"What? Don't scold me fer cussin' out the game!"

"The only person allowed to cuss in this house is Mom. Besides, I don't like hearing you use such foul language. I hear enough of that at school."

Beelzemon rolled his eyes and returned to the game.

Lauren changed the song on her computer before returning to type.

Half an hour later Beth and Alena returned laden with bags. Lauren put away her computer to help.

"Hey, cake mix!" Lauren said as she pulled a box of chocolate cake mix from one of the bags. "We makin' a cake?"

"Actually, cupcakes." Beth replied as she balled up an empty plastic bag and set it on the table.

"When?"

"When what?"

"When do we get to make the cupcakes?"

Beth paused, looking thoughtful. "We could make them…in a few minutes or a little later. Which ever you guys choose."

"Now!" Alena cried.

Beth suppressed a chuckle. "Alright. I'll start on them in a few moments. Lena, please get everything ready for me."

"Yes, Mom." Alena said, sounding rather angry that she was the one who had to do it.

Beth glared at her youngest daughter. "Don't give me that attitude! Yes, you know what I mean. Now do as you're told."

Alena silently mocked Beth as she walked off towards her room.

"Lena!" Lauren hissed warningly.

"Lauren!" Alena said mockingly back.

Lauren shook her head and went back to the living room. She sat down and watched Beelzemon as he died again.

The angry Digimon sputtered and ranted under his breath.

Lauren giggled. "I told you it was hard. Why don't you play something else, like Halo 2?"

"Sure, whatever. Just change the game before I break it!"

"Then you'd have to pay for the broken game, it's not ours." Lauren said as she walked up to the game system and knelt down.

While Lauren changed the game, Beelzemon went to the kitchen where Beth was working on the batter for the cupcakes. "Hey. You need any help?"

"Hm? Oh, no thank you. I got it."

Beelzemon sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. "Kay."

Lauren hadn't noticed Beelzemon was gone, too wrapped up in her game.

Every now and again Beth would have to scold Lauren for yelling at the game.

"And you yell at me fer cussin' out the game!"

"She's just yelling at the game. She always does that. She'll even just talk to them, but mainly it's yelling."

Beelzemon snickered. "Weird kid."

"I heard that! I am not…Oh wait, yeah I am. Hehe. Never mind."

Beelzemon shook his head, a smile upon his lips. "Ah, she ain't that weird. Not as weird as her sis, anyway."

"Yes. Alena has some issues with being overly funny sometimes and talking too fast."

"She also talks a mile a minute!" Lauren said with a giggle. Her giggle trailed of abruptly and she growled, "Hey! That's not fair! Stupid Elites and their plasma swords, stupid Brute and his stupid plasma rod!"

Beelzemon was thoroughly confused. He scratched the back of his head. "What're ya talkin' about?"

"I'm just gettin' mad at some critters on this game…that keep killing me! Usually I can kill them but I'm in an enclosed place and I'm playing as the Arbiter. He never gets very good weapons. You'd think that maybe they'd let you use Marine weapons but nooo! Grrrr, die already!" Lauren continued with her angry ranting as she tried to kill the creatures, without much luck.

The four sat down for dinner about an hour later.

Beelzemon felt rather awkward listening to the three's lively conversations. He was unused to such eccentric people like Alena. It was also difficult to keep up with a word the 12-year-old was saying because of how fast she spoke.

Beth had to constantly remind her youngest to slow down. "Alena! Slow down! You're talking too fast again."

"Oh, sorry, Mom."

"It's alright dear. Just speak slower."

"Yes, Mom. Anyways! Like I was saying…."

Lauren burst into a fit of giggles as her sister reenacted a series of scenes from a comedian she had been watching before dinner.

When dinner was done, Beelzemon helped Lauren put up leftovers while Beth and Alena took the cupcakes from the oven, setting them on plates on the table.

Feeling rather mischievous, Beelzemon picked up a plate of cupcakes as he walked by the on the way to the living room.

"Hey!" Alena cried when she spotted him.

"Uh-oh."

"Come back with those cupcakes, you thief!"

Beelzemon ignored Alena, who was following him as he walked over to the green chair nearest the TV

"Gimme the plate!" Alena screamed as she jumped up, trying to grab the plate.

Beelzemon grinned as he pulled the plate from Alena's grasp. "Come on! You haveta jump ta get it! Come on pipsqueak!"

Alena glared at the Mega. She climbed up on the chair, much to Beelzemon's surprise. He had to hold the plate above his head to keep the persistent child from getting a hold of it.

Beth walked into the room. "Give that back right now!" she said in a commanding tone.

Beelzemon looked down at her in surprise. "Eh?"

"Give that plate to Alena now!"

"I'm only gonna eat the ones that aren't frosted!" Beelzemon said defensively.

"We haven't even got the frosting out yet!" Alena snapped.

"Ohh!" Beelzemon groaned. "Come on!"

Beth folded her arms, fixing the viral with an icy glare. "Don't make me get the skillet."

Beelzemon stared back at her. He saw no fear in her light blue eyes. He rolled his eyes and handed the plate to Alena, folding his arms sulkily. "No fair."

Alena stuck her tongue out at him and got down from the chair. With her nose in the air, she walked to the kitchen.

Beelzemon plopped down in the chair, crossing one leg over the other and folding his arms, grumbling under his breath as he slumped down.

To Lauren, he looked much like a dejected child who's mother refused his request. Picking up a white frosted cupcake that Alena had just set down, she walked up to him.

Beelzemon cast a quick glance at her before looking away.

Lauren held the cupcake out to him. "Here. I know you wanted one."

Beelzemon looked up at the teenager in surprise as he straightened up, unfolding his arms. He took it from her, looked at it for a moment, then looked at Lauren. "I only get one?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and too the cupcake from him. Breaking off a small chunk, she put it in his hand. "There, better?" She chuckled as she walked back to the kitchen, eating the rest of the cupcake.

"Hey!" Beelzemon cried in indignation, jumping to his feet. His anger was replaced by surprise when Lauren walked up to him with a plate of six frosted cupcakes, a pleased grin on her face.

She held the plate up to the stunned Beelzemon.

"H-huh?"

"Surprised? Thought so. Holy crap! It's snowing again."

"Huh? Snowing?" Beelzemon turned and looked out the window located behind the table between the chairs. Snow flurries were falling softly from the light grey clouds. "Whoa, cool!"

Lauren set the plate on the table and walked to the door. She opened it to stare out the misting screen door. "Maybe tomorrow we can have a snowball fight. Sound like fun, Sis?"

"Yeah!"

"I just have to find a warm pair of pants…Hey, Mom? You know where those black jogging pants of yours are?"

"Yes and no, you can't wear them. You'll stretch them out and I won't be able to wear them anymore. There is a fuzzy pair of grey paints you can wear. They're hanging up in the closet in my room."

"Alright," Lauren opened the screen door and stooped down, picking up a handful of snow. She squished it together in her hand, then dropped it before closing the door. "It's good packing snow." she said as she walked to her seat.

Beelzemon had already started eating his cupcakes and was more than half-done by the time Beth and Alena started eating theirs. Lauren had not wanted any, instead she continued with her game.

Around 11: 30 Lauren wandered off to bed after telling everyone goodnight. Beelzemon was still up playing Halo 2 while Alena was watching TV in her room.

Lauren was awoken from her slumber by a dream. She looked at her digital clock to see that it was 4: 58 in the morning. Deciding to get something to drink, she got up from the bed. As she walked out into the hall, she saw Beelzemon fast asleep in the chair, the footrest was out and his legs were propped up on it.

The light from the TV washed over his sleeping form, giving it a blue hue. The game controller, still in his hand, was resting on his leg.

Lauren carefully pried the controller from the viral's clawed hand and rolled it up as she walked up to the TV. She set the controller on the Xbox, then turned off the TV. She went into the kitchen and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then went into her mother's room, took a sheet from the basket beside the door, and returned to the living room. She spread the sheet out over Beelzemon and returned to her room.


	2. Chapter 2

It was 8:00 in the morning and all was quiet, except for Amara, who was playing with a balled up cigarette carton and the sound of music pouring from Lauren's stereo speakers. Everyone but the frisky kitten was asleep.

Lauren, who was sleeping lightly, awoke to the sounds of Amara knocking things off her table as the kitten batted at the dragon beanie baby, knocking that off along with everything else.

"Amara! Mara, get down!" Lauren snapped as she sat up.

Lauren pushed Amara off the table. The pesky kitten leapt up on the bed, pouncing on the girl's foot.

"Ow! Stupid cat! Get off!"

Amara leapt down from the bed and took off for Alena's room.

"Bratty little kitty. Just had to wake me up!" Lauren grumbled as she picked up the fallen objects from the floor and set them back on the table. She turned off her radio as she exited the room. Looking down the hallway to her sister's room, saw Amara sprawled out on her side on the pillow.

Lauren shook her head and went into the living room, sitting down in the empty seat. Bart walked over and leapt up on her lap.

Lauren absently stroked his fur as he made himself comfortable and dropped off to sleep. She looked over at Beelzemon, who was tangled up in the sheet from tossing about in his sleep. He was sleeping on his side with his head in the crook of his arm to shield his face from the sunlight pouring in from the window.

Lauren put her cheek in her hand as she rested her elbow on the arm of the chair. Against her will, her eyelids began to droop. After only a few moments of fighting it, her eyes finally closed.

Several moments later, Lauren and Bart were startled awake by a knock at the door.

Lauren hurried to the door, avoiding Beelzemon's boots as he stretched and turned to his other side, emitting a small grunt and a sigh. She opened the wooden door and was surprised to see her friend, Anjelica Gorrell standing in the doorway. "Anje? What are you doin' here?"

"Decided to drop by, that's all. What're you up to?"

"Nothin' much." Lauren replied, casting a glance at the viral, hoping he would not awaken.

Anjelica stepped through the doorway. She looked down at the Digimon with a mixture of surprise and confusion. "What is that?"

"Um, that is…er…."

The sound of the screen door swinging shut made Beelzemon jump awake. "Huh, what the hell?!" He looked around wildly. Spotting the girls, he relaxed. "Oh."

Anjelica's eyes widened in fear. "Oh my god!" Without warning, she fainted.

"Anje!" Lauren gasped. She knelt beside her unconscious friend.

Beelzemon rolled his eyes. "Humans!" he muttered. He untangled himself from the sheet and covered back up with it.

It took several minutes and a cup of water for Anjelica to come to. She sat up and looked up at Lauren, who was watching her worriedly. "Wh-what happened?"

Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. "You fainted."

"I did? So I did." She sat upright and froze when she saw the white lump in the chair.

Lauren looked up at it as well. "Oh, don't worry about that. Let's go to my room."

Anjelica nodded and stood up, following Lauren into her room. They sat on the bed and conversed.

Ten or so minutes later, there was a second knock at the door, louder than the first.

Lauren hurried to answer the door. Opening it, she was greeted by the sight of Cassandra Eversole. "Hi, Cassie."

"Hey, Lauren!"

"Shh!."

"Oh, did I wake you?"

Lauren shook her head. "No, but you'll wake up everyone else."

"Oh, whoops. Sorry."

"Well, come on in. Anje's already here."

"She is? Well, where is she?"

"My room."

"Well, let's go see what she's up to."

The two started off towards Lauren's room.

Amara came bounding down the hallway towards the living room, having caught sight of the sheet twitch. She pounced on the sheet, causing the snoozing viral to leap up with pain as the kitten's claws dug into his side.

"Owowowow! Stupid freagin' fur ball!"

Lauren and Cassie jumped violently, and Cassie screamed. Anjelica ran out of the room, attracted by the scream.

Beelzemon looked up at Cassie, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Shut yer yap! Loud-mouthed little critter."

Seeing the Digimon only made Cassie scream again, louder.

Lauren tried desperately to silence her frightened friend, since Anjelica was equally frightened. "Cassie, calm down, please! You'll wake up Mom! Oh, for God's sake girl, shut up!"

Irritated by the grating noise, Beelzemon stood up, flexing his claws. "Better do as she says, or I'll rip out your throat!" he growled.

Cassie clamped her hands over her mouth.

Beelzemon folded his arms across his chest, still glaring at her. "That's better. I got a big enough head-ache with you screamin' in my ear."

"Sorry."

"If your head hurts that bad, I can get you some Excedrin."

"Nah, I don't need that. It ain't that bad."

"Alright. Come on you two, back to my room. And try to keep quieter-Mom and Lena are still asleep…hopefully."

Luckily for them, both were still asleep, it was only a couple hours later Alena awoke of her own accord.

She walked towards the kitchen, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She paused when she saw Beelzemon. "Oh, yer still here. Great…." She continued on her way to the kitchen in search of breakfast.

Beelzemon shook his head and went back to flipping through the 69 channels, grumbling about nothing being on.

The four kids and Beelzemon were outside playing in the snow in the front yard throwing snowballs at one another.

Beth was sitting in her room listening to both the TV and the delighted yells of the others outside. "Lucky kids. It's far too cold for me outside."

The four had decided to team up against Beelzemon on the spur of the moment. The startled Digimon yelped as he was bombarded by a hoard of snowballs. No sooner did they stop throwing than he began retaliating.

The girls screamed as the hard-thrown snowballs slammed into them. One snowball nailed Alena in the face, knocking her flat upon her back. Lauren, Anjelica, and Cassandra rushed to her side.

"Nena! Sis, you Ok?" Lauren asked, kneeling beside her sister.

"Put peanut butter and Oreos in my casket…." Alena said in a dramatically wavering voice as she closed her eyes.

Beelzemon walked over to stand beside Anjelica. "She dead?" he asked casually, putting his thumbs in the belts about his waist.

"Doh, I'm dead!" Alena said in a humorous imitation of Munch from Munch's Odyssey.

"There's our answer."

Beelzemon chuckled.

"I'll be right back!" Lauren said as she ran towards the trailer.

The others watched her disappear through the doorway.

"What's she doin'?" Beelzemon asked.

The other two shrugged.

Lauren opened the glass cookie jar, pulling out several cookies.

"Stay outta the cookies!" Beth called.

"They ain't for me!" Lauren replied as she headed for the front door. "It's an emergency!"

Beth's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Huh?" She got up and headed towards the living room after she heard the door close, announcing Lauren was gone. She went to the screen door and looked out.

Lauren knelt beside Alena. She waved one cookie under her sister's nose.

Alena took two whiffs of the cookie and sprang to life, startling everyone. "Cookie!" She snatched the cookie from Lauren and crammed it in her mouth, chewing happily.

"Yay! She's back to normal! Can we keep playing now?"

"Sure," Lauren replied as she handed the rest of the cookies to her sister. "But I think Alena should sit this one out. There's a small bump on your face."

As Alena passed by Beelzemon, she stuck her tongue out at him.

His jaw dropped slightly. "You little brat!"

Alena merely scoffed and walked into the trailer.

Beelzemon, shaking with rage, turned to Lauren. "Yer sister's sucha pain the-!"

"I know, I know!" Lauren interjected.

Anjelica picked up a snowball. "Can we play now?"

Lauren grinned. "Sure!"

They continued with their snowball fight.

Alena and Beth were inside making cups of hot chocolate and pulling out leftovers for lunch.

Beth went to the front door to watch the four still playing Opening the screen door, she walked out onto the front stoop. "Kids!" They didn't seem to hear her so she walked down the steps to the edge of the patio and called to them again. "Kids! Time for-Hey!" A stray snowball had smacked her right in the face.

Everyone froze when and looked at Beth.

"Whoops." Cassandra said.

"Who threw that?!" Beth demanded as she wiped water from her face, looking at each in turn, stopping at Lauren.

Her daughter shrugged, tossing her snowball from hand-to-hand to keep her hands from getting too cold.

"Fine then," Beth bent down and picked up a handful of snow, packing it into a ball. "Looks like I'll have to get all of you!"

"Oh crap! Take cover!" Lauren cried, dropping her snowball and bolting for the side of the trailer.

Anjelica and Cassandra quickly followed.

Beelzemon merely looked at them, then at Beth. "What the matter with them? A snowball don't hurt, unless I throw it 'o' course!" He grinned.

"We'll just see about that!" Beth hurled the snowball at him.

The ball of snow hit Beelzemon square in the jaw. "Yeowch! That hurt!"

"That's the point." Beth said as she gathered up snow for another snowball.

Beelzemon took the hint and dashed off after the others. "Wait fer me!"

Beth watched him disappear around the corner, chuckling to herself. She dropped the snowball and rubbed her hands together to warm them. "Brrr. It's cold out here! I'd better make them come in. Lauren!"

Lauren poked her head around the corner. "Yes, Momma?"

"Come on, sweetheart. It's time for everyone to come in."

"Kay. Comin'! Come on guys, it's safe." Lauren said as she started running towards Beth.

"You sure? Alright…." Cassandra followed Anjelica as she walked after Lauren.

Just as Lauren was reaching her mother, she slipped on a patch of slushy snow and fell flat on her face.

Her friends hurried to help her, both giggling.

"Lauren you Ok?"

"That must've hurt."

Lauren giggled as she stood up, wiping snow from her clothes and face. "Only a bit."

"Alright you guys, it's time for lunch." Beth said as she walked up to the front door.

Everyone went inside and gathered round the kitchen table. Anjelica, Cassandra, Lauren, and Beelzemon sat sipping cups of hot chocolate while their lunch was being heated and served to them.

"I think that's the most fun I've had that didn't really haveta do with battlin'." Beelzemon said thoughtfully after he swallowed a bite of food.

"Yeah. There isn't much to do around here."

"Except football!" Cassandra cried, throwing her arms in the air.

"Good fer you." Lauren said dully.

Beth walked up to the table. "Now, Lauren. Be nice. Just because you don't like sports you shouldn't have that tone with your friend."

Lauren ducked her head shamefully. "Sorry."

Beth smiled. "That's better."

While everyone talked, Alena swiped Beelzemon's plate as she walked to her room.

Beelzemon caught her out of the corner of his eyes. "Hey!" he cried. "That's mine!"

"So? Mine now."

Beelzemon frowned. "She's cruel."

"Remind you of somebody?" Lauren asked, putting her chin in her hand.

Beelzemon folded his arms and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "Hm, lemme think. Mean, back talks. I'd say she's a lot like Rika." He looked at Lauren, as if wanting to confirm his statement.

"Sounds about right ta me. I used to be a lot like that, except for some of the back talking. But we seemed to have switched personalities I'm the nicer more talkative person and Nena…well you've seen. There are days that she's nicer though. Mom, what's your schedule?"

"It's on the fridge. It's 4 to 9, just like it's been."

"That's what I thought. Can Cassie stay the night? Her mom already said she could."

"Well," Beth paused, looking thoughtful. "I guess so…."

"Yay! Thanks Mom!"

"But where will she sleep?"

"She can sleep…in the other chair if it won't bother her. Or she can have my bed." Lauren suggested.

"Then where will you sleep?"

"The couch."

"But it's messed up."

"Oh, I don't mind. I've slept on it before."

"Hm, I don't know…Where would you like to stay, Cassie?" Beth asked, turning to the girl in question.

"It doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy I get to stay!"

"Alright. You can sleep in the other chair."

Anjelica looked up at Beelzemon. "Do you have different forms?"

Beelzemon looked over at her and smirked. "Yeah."

"Can we see?!" Cassandra asked excitedly.

"Sure. Up or down?"

"Up!"

The viral grinned. "Kay, but we gotta go outside. No wing room."

Cassandra and Anjelica looked at each other, puzzled. "Wing room?"

The three girls followed Beelzemon outside.

He stopped near the edge of the patio, looking up at the sky. He turned to them. "Ready?"

The three teenagers nodded. Lauren already knew what to expect, so she wasn't surprised when Beelzemon Digivolved to Blast Mode, gaining two sets of black wings, emerald green eyes, a positron cannon on his left arm up to his elbow, and his the color of his outfit turned grey and every bit of metal turned silver.

Anjelica and Cassandra gasped. "Wow!"

Beelzemon grinned smugly. "Like it? This is my fave form."

"Yeah!"

"It's a lot cooler than on TV, that's for sure!"

Beelzemon's grin widened and a light blush crept to his cheeks, pleased with the compliment. Suddenly his whole body was engulfed in a golden light. When it dispersed, a two-foot tall dark purple furred creature with a white mask-like design on his face, large emerald green eyes, and an evil sharp-toothed smiley on his stomach stood in Beelzemon's place. He wore a red bandana and three fingered red gloves.

The creature looked at himself and groaned. "Crap! Ran outta energy. Crap!" Suddenly he paused and his eyes grew big. "Cold!" he yelped, leaping up.

The three teenagers laughed as they watched him dance around for a few moments before leaping into Lauren's arms.

"Alright you guys, let's get back inside before Impmon freezes his tail off."

They went inside to warm up. Lauren allowed Impmon to sit beside her in the chair while everyone watched TV. The Rookie was soon snoring against Lauren's side.

"Oh, that's so cute!" Cassandra cooed.

Lauren put a finger to her lips, signaling silence.

Cassandra clasped a hand across her mouth and turned back to the TV.

A little while later Beth took Anjelica home. Then everyone sat down for dinner. Because of how small he was, Impmon was allowed to sit on the table.

Everyone was amazed at how much he ate, shoveling away four platefuls of sirloin steak, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, and rolls at top speed.

Lauren looked at Alena, open-jawed. "And I thought you ate a lot! He could probably enter an eating contest against one of Brian Jacques' hares from his books!"

Alena nodded. "No kiddin'!"

"Wow, he sure can put it away!" Cassandra said, equally stunned.

Impmon paused his eating long enough to say with his mouth half-full. "Dis is da best I've ever had!" Then he went back to eating.

When dinner was finished, Impmon was lying on the table, holding his swollen stomach and moaning softly.

Lauren giggled. "Ate too much, didn't ya?"

"But it was good!" Impmon sobbed.

"Awww, that's just too bad!" Alena said as she walked out.

Lauren smiled sympathetically. "Oh, it's alright, Impmon. You just have to digest," she said as she gently massaged his swollen stomach.

Impmon moaned. "Ohhhhhh…It ain't fair."

"You want to carry you to the chair."

"Whatever…."

"Maybe I shouldn't try to carry you. Poor Impmon. Maybe this will teach you not to overeat."

"No kiddin'."

Lauren sat down in the chair. She stayed and talked to him, rubbing his stomach and ruffling his ears.

Impmon was thoroughly enjoying all the attention. He was more willing to take it in his Rookie form than his Mega. It had something to do with his pride and Ego. As well as the fact that Ai and Mako gave him a lot of attention and affection as Impmon. He ended up falling asleep.

Lauren carried the snoozing Digimon into the living room to the green chair and carefully and gently laid him down. She pulled the white sheet from atop the chair and covered him with it.

Cassandra up to Lauren. "So, I sleep in the other chair?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yes. The footrest comes out, that'll make it more comfortable."

"Okie-Dokie." She walked to the chair and sat down.

Lauren went to her room and got ready for bed.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Lauren awoke to the sound of the alarm and went through her daily routine of getting ready for school, getting dressed in a dark grey sweatshirt with light grey dragon designs and dark green cargo pant. 

After making sure her sister was up, Lauren went to the living room to wake Cassandra and get her coat.

Cassandra was already awake, thanks to the alarm clock. "Hi, Lauren."

"Hey, Cassie. Sleep well?"

"As best I could with the little guy's snoring."

Lauren giggled softly. "Bet that wasn't too good."

Cassandra shook her head, though it was too dark for Lauren to see the gesture well.

"Well, I'd better get my coat."

"Kay. Which way is the bathroom again?"

"Down the hall, second door on the right."

"Alright, thanks."

"Welcome."

Lauren walked towards the closet, which was right beside the counter beside one of the green chairs. Suddenly her foot hit something solid and she cried out as she fell forward. The fall knocked the breath out of her.

"Ack!"

Lauren sat up quickly, startled by the noise.

"Get offa me ya da-wait a sec. You ain't the cat," Beelzemon blinked in surprise. "Lauren?"

Lauren could feel the heat rise to her cheeks as she realized that she had tripped and fallen upon the viral Digimon. She quickly got up and hurried to her room, feeling greatly embarrassed. "Oh my god! I can't believe I tripped on him!" She covered her face with her hands. "This is bad."

"What's bad?"

Lauren turned around to see Cassandra standing in the doorway. "Oh, Cassie, I tripped on him!"

Cassandra tilted her head to one side, clearly confused.

Lauren walked up to her. "Beelzemon. I fell on him. I was going to get my coat when I tripped and fell on him. Oh, this is so terrible!"

Cassandra still looked rather confused. "But how could you've fallen on him? He was in the chair, right?"

Lauren shook her head slowly. "No, he was on the floor."

"Oh! That makes perfect sense now!"

Lauren smacked her head and shook her head.

"Sorry. You know how ditzy I am."

"I know. But I don't mind."

Cassandra beamed. "And that's why you're my friend!"

Lauren smiled slightly. "Thanks. Hey, is my sis up yet?"

"I think so. Better double-check," Cassandra poked her head out the doorway. She turned to Lauren. "She's still in bed."

"Yeah, she likes to stay there until it's time to leave. She gets dressed at least."

"At least she does that. My sis is really hard to get up in the morning."

"Well, come on. We'd better get ready." Lauren said as she walked out of the room towards her sister's room.

Cassandra watched her for a moment before walking into the living room.

Beelzemon was sitting in the chair farthest from the door with the lamp on. "Hey Cass," he said when she walked in. "Lauren alright?"

"She's just fine." Cassandra replied, sitting down in the other chair.

"Kay. I think I really embarrassed her. She kinda tripped on me."

"Yeah, she already told me about that."

"I kinda thought so. I hope I didn't hurt her," Beelzemon put his chin on his knuckles. "I can't remember how I got on the floor. Funny, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Beelzemon looked up when he heard footsteps.

Lauren walked in. "She's as difficult as ever."

"Can't get her up?"

"Nope. Brat. Oh, well. She'll get up when it's time to leave, which'll be in like two minutes."

"So…whatcha wanna do for the next two minutes?" Cassandra asked.

Lauren shrugged. "Dunno." She walked over to the couch and sat down.

"How ya feelin'?" Beelzemon asked.

Lauren looked at him in surprise, then blushed lightly. "F-fine."

"That's good. Sorry if yer embarrassed."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Beelzemon grinned. "Naw. Hard as steel. Didn't hurt a bit."

"Good."

"Hey, Lauren?"

Lauren looked over at Cassandra. "Hm?"

"Julie's coming over today after school, right?"

"Yeah. Beelzemon, please don't scare her to death, OK?"

"Aww, but it's fun!" Beelzemon whined.

Lauren glared at him, folding her arms.

"OK, OK. I won't scare 'er."

Lauren smiled. "Thank you."

"You're going to come play with us, right? We're playing football."

"Sounds like fun."

Beelzemon frowned. "Hey, whaddaya expect me ta do while you guys're gone?"

Lauren shrugged. "Video games, stare at the wall. I don't know. We're gonna be gone for almost eight hours at school. What do you do when your Tamers are at school?"

"I did go to the gym, or a walk, or take a ride on Behemoth through the Digi world. Looks like I'm screwed."

Cassandra nodded. "Pretty much."

"This sucks." Beelzemon muttered.

"It's OK. You'll find something, I'm sure," Lauren looked at the clock on the microwave and stood up. "Well, it's time to go. Cassie can you get my coat, please?"

"Sure."

Cassandra went to get Lauren's coat while Lauren went to get her sister up. When all three girls were ready, they left for the bus.

After they were gone, Beelzemon turned off the lamp and went back to sleep.

After school, Lauren and Julie England were sitting together on the bus while Cassandra was sitting in the seat next to them with her sister, Deidre. The three were talking excitedly about what they were going to do when they got home.

"After all my homework's done, it's football!" Cassandra cried, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yeah!"

"Sounds like fun, even if I can't play." Julie said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

The other two's smiles faded.

"Yeah, stupid operation on your leg, huh?" Lauren said.

"Yeah."

Cassandra folded her arms. "And I had been worried sick the whole time you were gone!"

"I told you not to worry!" Lauren chided, shaking a finger at her severely.

"I couldn't help it!"

"Well, I'm still alive aren't I?"

Cassandra nodded slowly. "Yes…."

Lauren looked at Julie. "Julie, when we get to my place, please don't freak out OK?"

Julie looked completely puzzled. "Huh?"

"Well…there's this guy at our place and he's-"

"Oh, I understand." Julie said nodding understandingly.

Lauren shook her head. "No-"

"He's not human!" Cassandra interjected.

Now Julie looked completely confused. "Wha?"

Lauren smacked her forehead. "Cassie! Well, I guess you'll find out in a minute." she said as the bus slowed to a stop.

A handful of children, including Lauren, Julie, Alena Cassandra, and Deidre got off and headed for home.

"OK, Julie. Remain calm, kay?" Lauren said to her friend as they walked up to the front door.

"Uh, OK."

They walked inside.

"Mom, we're home!" Alena called as she dropped her book bag and coat in the nearest chair.

"Kay!" Beth said distractedly as she fixed her hat.

"Julie's coming over for a bit." Lauren said as she set her stuff beside her sister's in the chair.

"Alright. Does she have a ride home?"

"My dad's picking me up in an hour or so."

Beth readjusted her glasses. "Alright," she said, then called over her shoulder, "Beelzemon, come out here!"

"No!"

"What's wrong with him?"

Beth smiled. "He had some Amara trouble, so I fixed it. He didn't like it."

Alena grinned. "What'd ya do?"

"You'll see later. I gotta go now, bye babes." Beth kissed both girls' foreheads and hurried out of the house.

Alena rubbed her hands together, a mischievous grin on her face. "Oh Beelzemon!" she called as she walked towards Beth's room.

"I ain't comin' out!"

"But why?"

"'Cause I look stupid!"

Lauren and Julie watched Alena disappear into the room.

"Ha! You do look stupid!" They heard her giggle.

Both girls looked at each other in confusion.

Alena walked out of the room, still laughing. "That's hilarious!"

"What?" Lauren asked. "What's so funny?"

Before Alena could answer, Beelzemon walked in looking sour.

Julie gasped. "Whoa!"

Lauren cocked her head to one side, confused. "What's so funny?"

Beelzemon rolled his eyes and turned sideways. His metallic-plated tail was looped through the two belts about his waist twice, then tucked in so that it didn't move. "Yer mom did it."

Lauren covered her mouth to stifle her giggle.

Beelzemon turned back around, folding his arms across his chest. "I told you it looked stupid."

Lauren walked up to Beelzemon and patted his arm. "It doesn't look that awful." she said reassuringly.

Beelzemon rolled his eyes. "Right…."

"It could've been worse."

"Yeah, I guess yer right. So, you guys goin' outside?"

Yeah. Why? You wanna come with?"

Beelzemon blinked in surprise at the question. "Uh, well…I guess it couldn't hurt. I am bored."

Lauren smiled. "Alright. Let's go."

The four walked outside and started off down the road.

"So…where we goin' exactly?"

Lauren pointed into the direction they were walking. "Down this way and to the right. There's a big circular area with only a few trailers, perfect for our football."

"Lauren!" Cassandra called when she caught sight of them rounding the corner.

"Hey, Cassie. Ready to play?"

"Yup! I got the football."

"Is Raheem and Taylor playing?" Alena asked.

"Yeah, Here they come." Cassandra said, pointing to two colored boys coming down the drive of the farthest trailer on the right.

Raheem had short black hair and was wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt. Taylor, his older brother, also had short black hair. He wore a red and white sports shorts and a dark blue t-shirt.

"Hey, it the Crazy Lady!" Taylor said when he spotted Lauren.

"Stop calling me that!"

Taylor giggled. "No!"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Let's just play already!"

"OK."

Beelzemon and Julie sat down on the curb while they watched the others play.

"This ain't as much fun as actually playin'." Beelzemon grumbled.

"Why don't you play?"

"'Cause I'm too tall!" Beelzemon replied in a mocking tone, folding his arms across his chest. "They just don't want me ta win, that's all."

"Hm. I can't play because I had surgery on my leg."

"That don't sound too good," Beelzemon said as he looked around. "Man, I can't believe how fast all the snow melted nor how warm it is."

"Well, winter is just about over."

Beelzemon nodded.

"So who's the weird lookin' guy over there?" Raheem asked as he tossed the ball to Cassandra.

"Oh, that's our cheerleader. He's just not in a good mood." Cassandra said with a giggle.

Luckily, the "cheerleader" had not heard her.

Lauren walked over and sat down beside Julie. "God am I tired! It was rather fun, though."

"Good fer you. I'm bored!" Beelzemon whined.

Cassandra ran up to them. "I know what you can do!"

Beelzemon looked up at her. "What?"

Cassandra backed up and started doing a cheerleading routine with her arms. "Gimme a C! Gimme an O! Gimme an L! Gimme a T! What does that spell?"

Beelzemon thought about it for a moment before replying, "Colt?"

Cassandra planted her fists on her hips. "OK, you smart-aleck. Gimme an S. Now what does it spell?"

"Colts. Why the heck are you spellin' that?"

"It's a football team! The greatest there ever was!"

"Yeah, right." Beelzemon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I have proof they won the XL1 super bowl! Now do the cheer!"

"You're stupid." Beelzemon stated bluntly.

"I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid!"

"Whatever. I ain't doin' the stupid cheer."

Cassandra scoffed and walked off.

Beelzemon snickered and looked down at the two girls. "She's weird."

"Hey!"

Beelzemon looked up to see Cassandra holding the football, which she was aiming at him.

"This is for not doing the cheer!" She hurled it at him.

Beelzemon effortlessly caught the ball and stood up, aggravated. "You stupid little human!"

Cassandra merely glared at him.

As he pulled his arm back to throw, Lauren yelled, "Duck!"

Taylor, Raheem, and Alena dropped down on the ground. Cassandra squealed and ducked as the ball whistled through the air towards her.

They stood up and looked in the direction the football had gone. There were several chunks missing from the tree the football had embedded itself in.

Taylor whistled. "Whoa."

Beelzemon smirked and folded his arms across his chest.

"And that's why you can't play!" Cassandra screamed at the bemused viral.

"Actually, I'm too tall."

"Fine, then! You're too strong too!"

Beelzemon shrugged. "Oh well. Not like we can play anyways."

Cassandra pointed to the tree that held the football. "Get our ball out, you cheerleader."

Beelzemon's eyes narrowed dangerously and he bared his fangs.

"Cassie!" Lauren said warningly. "Please don't provoke him."

Cassandra folded her arms.

Beelzemon walked up to the tree, effortlessly pulled out the football, and thrust it in Cassandra's hands. "Here." Then he walked off.

Everyone watched as he disappeared from view behind a trailer.

Cassandra turned to the others, holding out the football. "OK, who wants to play?"

Everyone but Julie and Lauren raised their hands. "We do!"

When the game was over, Lauren, Julie, and Alena walked back to the trailer, where Julie's father was waiting.

"Hey, Dad. Time to go?"

Julie's father nodded. "Yes."

"OK. Bye, Lauren. Bye, Alena."

"Bye, Julie. See you tomorrow."

"Kay, bye."

Lauren and Alena went inside as the truck pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey guys." Beelzemon said, not looking away from the TV as they walked in.

"Hey. Having fun?" Lauren asked as she sat down on the couch.

"No." Beelzemon said bluntly.

"Aww, that's so sad." Alena said mockingly as she walked to the kitchen.

Beelzemon rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Lauren smiled. "Don't mind her. She's in a sour mood. Her team lost."

"Oh."

Lauren leaned forward, picked up the note from the table, and read it. She sighed. "Leftovers for dinner again."

"Again?" Alena groaned. "No! We barely have anything as it is!"

Beelzemon snorted, "Great! Just what we need to make the day worse!"

Lauren shrugged. "Could be worse. We could just starve."

"Noooo! I need food!" Alena cried.

"You ain't the only one!"

Lauren smiled and shook her head.

Bart leapt up onto her lap and settled himself down.

Beelzemon watched Lauren as she absently stroked the cat's fur while she watched TV.

Alena walked into the living room, picked up the remote, and started flipping through the channels as she sat down in the other chair.

"Is this what you guys do every day?" Beelzemon asked.

"Pretty much."

Beelzemon rolled his eyes, sighed huffily, and put his cheek on his knuckles. He ended up dozing off a few minutes later from sheer boredom.

Seeing that the viral was asleep, Alena got up and picked the piece of purple yarn off the floor. She tied it to his tail and sat back down, giggling.

Every time Beelzemon's tail twitched, Amara attacked it. She had difficulty keeping hold of the smooth metal plates with her claws, but managed to keep hold of the yarn as she rolled around, grabbing it between her paws and gnawing on it as she tangled herself up more and more until she looked like a gray and purple ball of yarn.

The entire time the kitten played, Beelzemon didn't stirred, completely oblivious to the tiny creature's antics.

Both girls enjoyed watching Amara playing with the yarn and the Digimon's fidgety tail.

The frisky kitten would sometimes leap up when his tail brushed against her, startled. But seeing what it was, would bat at it or she would rub against it for a moment before going back to playing with the yarn.

Sometime later, Alena went to Beth's room to watch TV while Lauren played Halo 2.

By now, Beelzemon was awake and watching Lauren. He didn't even notice the yarn tied to his tail. "Hey, Lauren. Can I play later?"

"Later."

Beelzemon sighed. Something told him he wouldn't get to play at all. "Lauren?"

"What?"

"Can I use the shower?"

"'Course. Down the hall. Though you probably won't be able to stand, you're too tall and the shower is very small."

Beelzemon stood up. "Kay thanks."

"Sure think, dude," Lauren said as the viral left the room. Suddenly she paused and blinked, slightly bewildered. "Man, I've been hanging around Nena too much." She shook her head and returned to her game.

Several minutes later, both girls were startled by a yelp.

Lauren looked up from her game to see Beelzemon walking down the hall towards the living room, holding the towel about his waist with one hand and the struggling, yowling Amara in the other. Water dripped down his body and a sour look was on his face.

Seeing the mostly naked Digimon, Lauren blushed deeply and quickly dropped her gaze, turning her head away.

"This stupid cat won't leave me alone!" Beelzemon growled as he walked into the living room.

"Maybe because you have a tail." Alena said as she walked down the hallway.

Beelzemon turned around. "Even so, she's getting' on my nerves! I mean, look at what she did to my leg!" he said, indicating the long scratches on his left leg, some oozing blood.

"What's wrong with his leg?" Lauren asked, not looking up.

"Amara scratched it up."

"Is he bleeding?"

"No. He's oozing Kool-Aid." Alena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Beelzemon blinked in confusion. "Kool-Aid?"

"Yeah, genius. It's sarcasm."

Beelzemon frowned. "I know what it is!" he snapped. He glared down at Amara writhing in his grip, giving her a slight squeeze.

"Yeah…right..."

Beelzemon growled as his gaze shot back to Alena, his eyes narrowing menacingly.

Alena, unintimidated, took Amara and walked back to her room.

"God I'm so sick of her!" Beelzemon grumbled under his breath as he walked back to the bathroom.

Making sure the viral was gone, Lauren returned to her game, groaning when she saw that she had died. "Aww, man!"

Later, Beelzemon was curled up in the other chair covered in a dark green blanket that Lauren had given him so that he wouldn't freeze since his clothes were sitting on the bathroom floor.

"How you doin' over there? Need anything?"

"Hm?" Beelzemon looked at Lauren, who had her eyes glued to the TV. "Naw, I'm fine. Thanks fer askin' kiddoe."

Lauren nodded. "Just tell me if you do."

Beelzemon smiled to himself as he nestled further into the chair to get more comfortable. _Nice ta know someone's so caring, 'specially 'bout me._

"Die stupid critters die!" Lauren yelled at the TV screen as she was firing upon a small group of Grunts.

Beelzemon chuckled. "Caring about living things at least."

Lauren cackled with glee as the whole group was blown sky high with a plasma grenade. "I win, ya stupid little critters!"

Beelzemon watched Lauren for a while longer before drifting off to sleep.

Not long after the demonic viral slipped into slumber, Alena walked into the living room carrying his boots.

Lauren looked over at her sister when she heard a loud thunk. "Sis, what're you doing?"

"Nothing." Alena replied, then walked out of the room.

Lauren shrugged and returned to her game.

At 8:23 Beth returned home from work.

"Guys I-" She halted when she saw the sleeping viral.

Lauren smiled at her mother. "Hey, Mom. Bring home anything?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I did." Beth replied softly as she walked to the kitchen, dropping the bag on the table before walking to her room.

Lauren paused her game and went to the table. She opened the bag and took out a small container of mashed potatoes, gravy, and chicken.

Alena walked in. "Food!" She hurried to the table and opened the container of chicken and produced two chicken legs, then hurried off to her room.

Lauren fixed herself a plate and returned to the chair to eat. Just as she was about to bite into a chicken leg, she paused and looked up at Beelzemon. With plate still in hand, she walked up to the chair that held the still slumbering viral. "Beelzemon, Beelzemon." she called softly, lightly poking his shoulder.

The viral demon lord squirmed and muttered something under his breath.

"Beelzemon?"

"Whaaaaat?!" Beelzemon mumbled, cracking open one eye irritably.

"Got ya something to eat."

Beelzemon sat up, now fully awake. He took the plate from Lauren and began devouring its contents.

Satisfied, Lauren returned to the kitchen to fix another plate.

At 9:30, the girls went to bed.

Beelzemon was bored so he decided to see what Beth was doing. Making sure to keep the blanket tightly wrapped around his lanky frame, he walked to the back bedroom and rapped the wooden door lightly with his knuckles.

"Puddin' go to bed!"

Beelzemon blinked in surprise. "Huh?" He knocked on the door again.

"Alena, _go…to…bed!_"

"I ain't yer kid!"

"Oh? OK, come in."

Beelzemon opened the door to see Beth sitting on the bed, Jade beside her, working on her afghan as she watched TV.

Beth smiled "I'm sorry. Alena likes to get up after I send her to bed."

"Why'd ya say Puddin' earlier?" Beelzemon asked as he walked over and sat down on the end of the bed.

"That's her nickname."

Beelzemon snickered. "Puddin', that's a funny name."

Beth shrugged. "She used to like it. So what do you want?"

"Just ta see what yer doin'. I'm bored."

Beth nodded understandingly as she went back to her crocheting.

"So…what're ya doin'?"

"Crocheting."

"Oh," Beelzemon said, not interested. "You got anything to snack on?"

"In a few I'm going to get a bowl of cereal, you're welcome to join me."

"Alright."

The two conversed for a few minutes before going into the kitchen and fixing bowls of cereal. They sat at the kitchen table to eat and talk.

Alena walked in to the living room, pausing when she saw Beelzemon and her mother eating. She frowned and walked to the kitchen. "Hey! You stole my cereal time with Mom!"

Beelzemon shrugged his shoulders under the blanket. "Sorry."

Alena folded her arms huffily.

"Come on, honey. You can sit with us too. But make sure to go right to bed when you're finished."

"Yes Mom." Alena said, looking a little happier as she fixed her bowl of cereal.

Beth and Beelzemon continued with their conversation, Alena interrupting every now and again.

When they had finished, they went off to their rooms, Beelzemon going to the living room and curling up on the couch.


	4. Chapter 4

Beelzemon was busily dusting the top of the entertainment system when the girls walked in, Alena's friend Alicia trailing behind them. "Hey girls…who's that?" he asked as he turned around, spotting the new girl.

She was easily taller than Alena with a tanned complexion, dark brown eyes, hazel hair, and stocky build. She wore a dark hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and capris.

"That's a question I should be asking you." Alicia said, folding her arms across her chest.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Heh, attitude, huh? Reminds me of Nena." He turned back and continued dusting.

Alicia looked at Alena. "Alena, who is he?"

"Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies." Alena said with a smirk.

Alicia covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

Lauren merely shook her head and sat down on the couch.

Beelzemon turned around, glaring at Alena. "What kinda name is that?! It's Beelzemon, not Beelzebub."

"She said that because that's where your name comes from, the demon named Beelzebub, also known as the Lord of Flies. Don't ask why, though." Lauren said as she pulled out her Mathematics book from her backpack.

"Alright, Chica, my room." Alena said as she led Alicia to her room.

Beelzemon turned to Lauren when they were out of sight. "That one of her friends?"

"Yeah."

"Great, someone else ta worry 'bout."

Lauren giggled a little and opened her Math book to her homework.

Everyone sat down at the kitchen table to eat dinner, which consisted of spicy BBQ chicken legs, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls.

"Alright, guys," Beth said as she sat down and pointed to one of the three plates of chicken. "This one is the least spicy, this one here is medium, and this one over here is the spiciest of all of them. I'm certain Alicia would like them, since you like extra spicy food, right Alicia?"

"Yeah."

"I'm serving!" Alena said as she got up from the table.

"Uh-oh, I'm scared." Beelzemon said to Lauren and Beth.

Lauren chuckled. "It's alright. I don't think there's really anything she can do to your stuff. 'cept make it spicy I guess."  
Beelzemon folded his arms. "Well, I don't haveta worry then, 'cause spicy stuff don't affect me 'cause we have lots of that back at my Tamers' house."

Alena smirked as she set down his plate in front of him, then went off to get everyone else's plates before sitting down.

Famished, Beelzemon picked up a chicken leg and took a large chunk out of it. He chewed on it for a moment until the spices reached his taste buds and his eyes went wide with shock.

All the girls burst into laughter as the viral Mega hurriedly spat out his food and chugged down his glass of milk.

As soon as the milk was gone, Beelzemon leapt up and hurried to the refrigerator, throwing open the door. He snatched up the carton of milk, tore off the top, and chugged that down as well.

"Hey! Don't drink all the milk!" Beth cried.

Beelzemon paused with his drinking, panting heavily. He glared at Alena. "Ya little brat!" he spat.

"I thought you liked it spicy." Alena said with a sweet appearance of innocence.

"Why you little b-"

Beth shot him an icy glare. "What was that?"

Beelzemon frowned. "I said-"

"The skillet's sitting on the stove." Lauren interjected casually, taking a bite out of her chicken leg.

Beelzemon's eyes widened and he cast a fearful glance at the stove where the dreaded skillet was sitting, as if waiting to be used on him. He looked back at Beth, shaking his head quickly. "Nothin'! I wasn't sayin' nothin'."

Beth nodded. "That's what I thought. Now put up that carton and sit back down. Get different chicken if it's too spicy for you."

Beelzemon wiped his mouth with his sleeve and set the mostly empty carton back in the refrigerator before sitting back down at the table. He glared at the partially eaten chicken leg on his plate.

Lauren picked up a leg and dropped it on his plate, then went back to eating.

Beelzemon picked it up and tentatively took a tiny bite from it. Not feeling the vicious bite of spices harassing his taste buds, he greedily took a larger chunk out and chewed happily.

After dinner, Alena was scouring the kitchen for more to eat while the others were watching television.

Lauren and Alicia were sitting in the chairs while Beelzemon was forced to sit on the floor.

He had his arms folded across his chest and he grumbled under his breath. Bored, he nodded off to sleep.

Beth walked in a few minutes later to shoo the girls off to bed. "Come on, bedtime!"

"Aww, but Mom!" Alena groaned.

"Bed!"

Mad, Alena stalked to her room with Alicia following her.

Lauren told her mother goodnight, then turned in for the night.

The next day was like any other, except that is was Beth's day off. So instead of staying home, they all went to Clifty Falls, the national park.

They hiked through the forest and near the small, beautiful waterfall.

Beelzemon was leaned over the short rock wall with had a plaque built on the top that had facts on the forest and fall. He was gawking over how far down it was to the small stream from where they were standing.

Alena crept up behind him. "Boo!" she shouted, then burst into a fit of giggles.

Beelzemon jumped violently, nearly falling over the edge of the wall. He actually slipped and fell on his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs in one painful breath.

"Beelzemon, you OK?" Lauren asked in alarm.

Beelzemon coughed in response.

Lauren pounded on his back until he had regained his breath.

"Thanks." he said hoarsely.

Lauren smiled. "Sure thing."

Meanwhile, Beth was scolding her daughter. "Don't you ever do anything like that again! He could have fallen and gotten hurt!"

Alena had her head bowed. "Sorry." she mumbled.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

"Aw, cut her some slack, Mom," Beelzemon said. "She didn' mean any harm, didja?" he asked, looking down at Alena.

Alena shook her head.

"See?" He ruffled her hair. "She was just playin' around."

"But you still could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"Naw, I'm too tough ta get hurt from a little fall!" Beelzemon said, shaking his head. "So, where we off to now?"

"The car." Beth replied as she turned and started off in the direction they had come.

"Aw, we ain't going home yet, are we?" Lauren asked as she hurried after her mother carefully.

"No, not yet."

The three ended up driving around, visiting the small conservation building to examine the wall with four snakes in it and the turtles as well as the Viewing Room where people could watch birds and other small creatures feeding from a large feeder through a one-way window. They also visited the Clifty Falls Hotel, which had a gift shop in it. They all had fun, especially when Beelzemon scared the two lobbyists as well as a few other people.

After spending several hours at the park, they went home to eat dinner since Alena had been complaining of being hungry. All the time they ate, they talked about what they had seen and what they had wanted to buy from the gift shop.

When they had finished eating, Beth made the three take turns for a shower, much to their dismay.

Lauren worked on her Math homework while Beelzemon played more of Halo 2 since Alena was in the shower first.

The rest of the night was uneventful, except when Beelzemon died on the game and threw the controller at the TV, missing and cracking the entertainment center. This rewarded him with a sound scolding from Beth and the job of fixing it.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was like any other, except that is was Beth's day off. So instead of staying home, they all went to Clifty Falls, the national park.

They hiked through the forest and near the small, beautiful waterfall.

Beelzemon was leaned over the short rock wall with had a plaque built on the top that had facts on the forest and fall. He was gawking over how far down it was to the small stream from where they were standing.

Alena crept up behind him. "Boo!" she shouted, then burst into a fit of giggles.

Beelzemon jumped violently, nearly falling over the edge of the wall. He actually slipped and fell on his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs in one painful breath.

"Beelzemon, you OK?" Lauren asked in alarm.

Beelzemon coughed in response.

Lauren pounded on his back until he regained his breath.

"Thanks." he said hoarsely.

Lauren smiled. "Sure thing."

Meanwhile, Beth was scolding her daughter. "Don't you ever do anything like that again! He could have fallen and gotten hurt!"

Alena had her head bowed. "Sorry." she mumbled.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

"Aw, cut her some slack, Mom," Beelzemon said. "She didn' mean any harm, didja?" he asked, looking down at Alena.

Alena shook her head.

"See?" He ruffled her hair. "She was just playin' around."

"But you still could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"Naw, I'm too tough ta get hurt from a little fall!" Beelzemon said, shaking his head. "So, where we off to now?"

"The car." Beth replied as she turned and started off in the direction they had come.

"Aw, we ain't going home yet, are we?" Lauren asked as she hurried after her mother carefully.

"No, not yet."

The three ended up driving around, visiting the small conservation building to examine the wall with four snakes in it and the turtles as well as the Viewing Room where people could watch birds and other small creatures feeding from a large feeder through a one-way window. They also visited the Clifty Falls Hotel, which had a gift shop in it. They all had fun, especially when Beelzemon scared the two lobbyists as well as a few other people.

After spending several hours at the park, they went home to eat dinner since Alena had been complaining of being hungry. All the time they ate, they talked about what they had seen and what they had wanted to buy from the gift shop.

When they had finished eating, Beth made the three take turns for a shower, much to their dismay.

Lauren worked on her Math homework while Beelzemon played more of Halo 2 since Alena was in the shower first.

The rest of the night was uneventful, except when Beelzemon died on the game and threw the controller at the TV, missing and cracking the entertainment center. This rewarded him with a sound scolding from Beth and the job of fixing it.

Around 1 in the afternoon, Beelzemon awoke. He played a bit more on the Xbox, but grew bored with dying. Instead he decided to sleep on one of the girls' bed. He lay down on Alena's bed.

The viral was confused about how hard the pillow felt. It was like there was something underneath it. Curious, he lifted the pillow to reveal a white binder with a black rose on the front. He pulled it out, looking it over. "Hm? What's this?"

Beelzemon opened the binder and started flipping through its contents. Most of it was pictures, but some was poetry. He lay carefully examining every picture, greatly interested. All the pictures were of a couple, the woman was tall, had waist long dark brown hair that was semi-straight, and had a beautiful figure and greenish-brown eyes. The man was taller than the woman by about three inches, short dirty blonde hair, deep brown eyes and a muscular build, usually both of them carried a gun or more. Sometimes the pictures were of both of them or of either of them.

Beelzemon was so engulfed in the pictures that he didn't notice when the girls returned home until Alena called out to her mother.

"Mom! We're home!"

Beelzemon quickly shut the binder and looked around for a place to stash it. He stuffed it back under the pillow, then tried looking nonchalant as Alena walked in the room.

"Hey, what are you doing in my room?" Alena asked.

"Nothin'!" Beelzemon said defensively.

Alena cocked an eyebrow. "OK..."

Beelzemon got up and walked from the room. He plopped down in one of the green armchairs to stare at the blank TV screen. Every now and again he would dare a glance down the hall at Alena.

"What's up with you?" Lauren asked, looking up from her homework. "You seem stressed."

Beelzemon shook his head. "It's nothin'."

"OK." Lauren went back to her homework.

Beelzemon looked down the hall to see that Alena was looking through the binder. He looked away just as she looked up. He turned on the television and began surfing through the channels.

Lauren paused writing every now and again to rub at her temples, wishing it would soothe away another of her irritating headaches.

"You want somethin' fer that?"

"Hm?" Lauren looked up at Beelzemon, puzzled. "Oh. No thanks. Nothing helps. I have bad posture, so I get these annoying headaches."

"What's posture gotta do with headaches?"

"The strain." Lauren replied simply, looking back down at her homework.

Beelzemon frowned, having not gotten the full answer to his question. He sighed and went back to watching TV.

Later, the group was sitting in the kitchen. Beth and Alena were teaching Lauren and Beelzemon how to play rummy, though neither were very good.

Halfway through the fourth game, the lights began to flicker and the microwave went off. Puzzled, everyone looked up from their cards to look around.

Beelzemon looked to the living room as he sensed a Digi-Portal. "Aww, crap!"

"What?" Lauren asked.

A portal opened in front of the entertainment system before Beelzemon could answer. Two teens stepped out.

"There he is!" the red-headed girl said, hooking a thumb in her belt.

"Hey, Beelzemon." the brown-headed boy said.

"Oh not you two!" Beelzemon rolled his eyes and looked away from the two Tamers.

"Hurry up already! Your Tamers are driving us crazy!"

"Not yet!" Beelzemon grumbled. "I'm not done with this game!"

Alena laid down the last cards in her hands on the table. "I win." she stated simply with a small smirk.

Beelzemon frowned. "Oh thanks a lot!"

Alena shrugged. "Welcome."

Beelzemon set his cards down and got up from the table. "Well, guess I gotta go now."

"Bye." Beth said

"Bye, Beelzemon. It was fun having you around." Lauren said.

Beelzemon smiled. "It was fun bein' here, thanks you guys. Maybe I'll see ya again sometime."

Lauren smiled. "Maybe."

Beelzemon turned and walked to the two Tamers, who walked through the portal. He waved to the girls before following them through.

"Well, that was fun." Alena said as she piled up the cards for Beth to shuffle.

"Yeah, I guess it was." Lauren said in agreement.

Beth began passing out the cards. "This has been a very strange week."

Both girls nodded and picked up their cards.


End file.
